After nearly two years of planning, debating, and admittedly, expressing some frustrations about how long the project was taking, Webster County Board of Education members at their meeting Thursday night, November 13, expressed feelings of excitement as they accepted a bid from Peyronin Construction in the amount of $8,585,000 for the renovation and expansion of Webster County High School.

“This has been a long time coming,” said school board vice-chair Lisa Preston.

“I’m glad to see this day,” said school board chair James Nance.

Preston quickly added, “I hope everyone else is, too.”

Discussion that the work was finally about to begin continued as board member Sandi Jackson joked that it “will be done before I-69,” referring to a statement Nance made at a meeting earlier this year in which he jokingly asked school district superintendent James Kemp if the project would be completed before the proposed Interstate 69, which has been the subject of debate for nearly two decades.

The bid amount was a so-called base bid. When adding in several “alternate” expenses, the price increases to approximately $9.1 million. Even with the alternates, the bid came in at nearly $1 million less than the amount allocated for the project. Later in the meeting, the board temporarily adjourned into a “finance corporation” meeting to adopt a resolution allowing the board (basically itself) to allocate the funds to pay for the project. The finance corporation is a legal requirement as part of the process.

During the finance corporation portion of the meeting, representative Glenn Brashear of RSA in Lousiville, praised the board for its handling of the project.

“The only cost to Webster County is the debt service on $3.5 million,” he said. “It’s pretty darn good to have $10.7 million, and only have to pay on $3.5 million.”

Brashear told the corporation (the school board) a bond sale will take place on Dec. 10.

District architect Tim Townsend of Townsend and Associates said he was pleased with not just who the contractor would be on the project, but with the overall bid process.

“We’re fortunate to have four good bids and four good contractors,” he said. “I was very surprised to see the numbers come in as low as they did. This was the first time in five years that material costs were going down.”

Calling the contractor that won the bid “very professional and very organized,” Townsend assured the board — at their insistence — that they would be welcome to attend regular monthly status meetings with him and the architect. Nance and other members of the board said that is needed to avoid a situation similar to one the board is in now with M&W Construction over renovation work at Slaughters Elementary. The contractor filed suit against the district and Townsend after members refused to make a final payment for the work. Board members argued the contractor violated the contract and didn’t finish the project within the amount of time agreed upon.

“The board will want to meet with you and (Webster County School District Maintenance Director) Jim (Shadrick), and the general contractor to make sure we don’t have the same thing we had at Slaughters (Elementary),” Nance said.

In other business, the school board approved the first and final reading of an “incentive” plan designed to encourage schools to enact initiatives geared toward boosting attendance.

The plan presented is slightly different from a previous proposal. In the approved version, elementary schools each get the same amount of money per percentage level of attendance, instead of different amounts based on existing attendance rates.

Each elementary school will receive $100 for 95 percent attendance, $150 for 95.5 percent attendance, $200 for 96 percent attendance, $300 for 96.5 attendance, and $400 for 97 percent attendance. Webster County High School will get $200, $300, $400, $600, and $800 at each percentage rate, respectively.

The proposal was made retroactive to the start of the current school year, meaning Dixon, Sebree, and Slaughters elementary schools will each get $350, Clay Elementary will get $150, and Providence will get $100. The money will be distributed to the schools’ Site-Based Decision Making councils to use as they see fit within the normal requirements.

Webster County School District Director of Pupil and Personnel Riley Ramsey has said repeatedly that each percentage point of attendance in the Webster County School District translates into about $80,000 of additional per-pupil funding. Thus, increasing daily attendance will mean more new money in the district. Funds from those increases are expected to pay for the incentive package.

Ramsey also presented a request to the board regarding an effort to prevent bullying, including “internet bullying” which may take place outside of normal school hours. Ramsey told The J-E that if such internet bullying creates a disruption at school, it will be something administrators can discipline students for. Examples presented include intimidating or threatening comments made verbally, in writing, or electronically, “setting someone up to be bullied,” or even observing bullying behavior without intervening on the potential victim’s behalf.

Earlier in the meeting, Webster County Youth Soccer Association acting commissioner Matthew Pratt asked the board to consider implementing a boys’ soccer program for Webster County students.

“What is holding us back from boys’ soccer,” Pratt asked the board. “When can we expect that to be introduced at Webster County High School?”

Pratt pointed out that as a sport, participation in soccer has grown nationally to nearly 15 million players, and is “a major part” of Kentucky’s sports programs.

Board members said it’s something they want to add to the athletic program at Webster County, but limited funds make it unrealistic for them to do so.

“Has anyone ever told you we went over it before and wanted to put in a program,” Preston asked Pratt.

Nance said he was also interested in seeing boys soccer as a Webster County sport.

“There were several obstacles the board was faced with and it never got off the ground,” Nance said. “Money’s always an issue, and volleyball is being mandated by the state.”

As the board has done in previous discussions of school-related concerns with other members of the community, board members directed Pratt to meet with the Webster County High School SBDM as the group to discuss the idea with. SBDM has some authority over athletics and might be able to get it implemented easier than the board can, members suggested.

Before adjourning, board member Sandi Jackson took an unusual step in questioning a personnel decision Kemp made recently as she referred to a proposed “intervention unit” being implemented soon at Providence Elementary. Though The J-E and other media representatives said they couldn’t recall discussion of such a program at a Board of Education meeting, several board members said they were aware of the proposal, and Kemp later told The J-E board approval isn’t required to implement the program.

Jackson said during the meeting that Kemp had indicated he was going to hire a particular person to work with the program but later learned a different person had been hired instead. She objected to the way in which it was handled.

“I know I don’t have a right as a board member to instruct you to do that,” Jackson said after telling Kemp she thought he should assign the original choice to the position. “But that’s my opinion. I feel like the person you said was going should be the one who is going.”

Kemp said that he made his decision based on recommendations from administrators involved in the decision. Board member E Carolyn Tucker supported Kemp during the open discussion.

“I think he has taken all that into consideration,” she told Jackson. “He has investigated, I’m sure.”

Referring only to the two people as “A” and “B,” Jackson said she knew the original candidate for the job, and that she thought that person was the better choice. “I do hope and pray that who is sent there will be of help.”

Kemp said he felt the best decision was made based on the information about both candidates for the job.

“We’re not going to do anything that would harm anyone,” he said.

At no point during the meeting Thursday night did Kemp or the board explain what the intervention unit (referred to throughout the discussion as a “transition program” or “transition unit”) was meant to do or how it would work; however, on Friday Kemp met with The J-E to discuss the program in more detail.

The intervention unit, as it was labeled in a prepared news release issued Friday, is meant to help older students at Providence Elementary who are behind academically. (See related story.)

In other business, the school board:

•approved a Providence Elementary fund raiser, a Dixon eighth grade class trip, and several prepared school administration reports;

•reviewed a personnel report, including the employment of Don Brantley, substitute teacher; Larry Hargrave, full-time alternate bus driver; and Lelia Moore, substitute cook/baker, cashier, lunchroom bus monitor, and instructional/clerical assistant; and a change of assignment for Mary Ann Bell to bus driver; and

•presented retirement plaques to board member E Carolyn Tucker for 21 years of service to the Webster County School District as a teacher and interim principal, and to Charlotte Parker for 21 years of service as a district bus driver. Kemp pointed out Tucker retired in 2003, and said the award should have been presented then.